304 THOxMAS BEWICK. 



needed little extraneous aid to make him what he became, the first en- 

 graver on wood that England has produced. Look at his tail-pieces, 

 Reader, and say if you ever saw so much life represented before, from the 

 glutton who precedes the Great Black-backed Gull, to the youngsters fly- 

 ing their kite, the disappointed sportsman who, by shooting a magpie, has 

 lost a woodcock, the horse endeavouring to reach the water, the bull roar- 

 ing near the style, or the poor beggar attacked by the rich man's mastiff. 

 As you turn each successive leaf, from beginning to end of his admirable 

 books, scenes calculated to excite your admiration everywhere present 

 themselves. Assuredly you will agree with me in thinking that in his 

 peculiar path none has equalled him. There may be men now, or some 

 may in after years appear, whose works may in some respects rival or even 

 excel his, but not the less must Thomas Bewick of Newcastle- on- Tyne 

 be considered in the art of engraving on wood what Linn^us will ever be 

 in natural history, though not the founder, yet the enlightened improver 

 and illustrious promoter. 



